Refractometric cell



July 23, 1957 Filed April e. 1954 S. H. SVENSSON REFRACTOMETRIC CELL 2 Sheets-Sheet l BY@ www ATTORNEY 5 July z3, 1957 Filed April 6, 1.954

s. H. svENssoN 2,800,053

REFRACTOMETRIC CELL 2 Sheets-Sheel 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS United States Patent() REFRALCTOME'ERIC CELL Svante. Harry Svensson, Sundbyberg, Sweden, assignor to 1 LKB-Irodukter Fabrksaktiebolag, Mariehall, Sweden, a Swedish company Application-April@ 1954, Serial No. 421,251

Claims priority, application Sweden October 16,1953

7 Claims. (Cl. 88-14) Thisfinvention relates to a refractometric cell for. the

-FigfS illustrates the parallel cells forming together a composite; cell in which. the langles between the entrance and exit walls Vand the inner walls are dilerent, and

Fig. 6 shows a composite cell comprising three partial cells adapted to contain different media.

So called dilerential-prismatic cells, the principle of which is evident from Fig. l, have since along time been used for measurement of small refractivitydierences, e. g.. between a solution and a corresponding solvent. .Sucha cellconsists of two hollow prisms of numerically the same refracting power, but ofV opposite signs.

For small differences in` refractivity, n, and for small entrance angles a, the angular dellection in such a cell is given by the equation:

where S=tan v is thesensitivity of the cell. There is thus alinear dependence between the refractivity ditfer ence and the angular deflection, which makes. theV cell convenient in use.

For higher valueslof the refractivity difference, Equation l is nolongern exactly valid,.since quadratic, cubic etc. terms then begin to be noticeable and cause deviations from the linear' dependence. The inventor has investigated the ref'ractivitydifferencei'at-which this deviation becomes f'perceptible; andhasthen arrived at the following inequalityeforttherange-o-linear response of the cell-in Fig; 12

1 2n 716g S R (2) Here R is the optical resolving power, i. e. the reciprocal of the least refractivity diierence that can be revealed with certainty by the instrument. For S=l and R=105, this limiting value is as low as 0.00516.

According to the present invention, this range of linear response is enlarged by the construction of certain types of composite diierential-prismatic cells. Three circumstances then contribute to the desired result.

lf the cell in Fig. 1 is turned through 180 round an axis perpendicular to the plane of the paper, an identical cell is obtained where the two media have changed places. In the rst approximation, this cell detlects the light Patented July z3, 1957 ICC insti as'muchiinzthe: opposite direction.` By reading the difference in light deection, before and` after such` `a turning, one can consequentlydouble the sensitivity as well as the optical resolving power. In other words, by usingsucha technique, :one can retain the same sensitivity ,andY resolving' powerif theA sensitivity and resolution of the cell are reduceditoztherhalf of theiroriginal values. According to-Equationl2, .such a reduction of both R and S should lead ,toxanincrease ofxthe range oflinear re- "sponseby a factor-ofY2`\/2, but `an accurate mathematical analysisfshows' thatftheincrease remains at 100 percent.

Instead of making thenmeasurement in a cell according to Fig. `1 before an'dnafter turning, one can use a cell according to Fig.` 2,.in.which `the ;upper half is the cell in `Fig..l before, andithezlower half' the same cell after the turning.v If. such 'la cell is `,placed in the way of the parallel light from a collimator, it will give rise to. two light, beams which form .a certain angle with each other. On focusing-them, two` images ofthe collimator slit are obtained, the=mutual distance of which is proportional to the refractivity-,diierencez If thecell-in Fig. 1 is turned. 180 round an axis in the plane of thepaper perpendicular to the optic axis, one obtains a cellin which S= tan v has the opposite sign and in4 sequenceoflthe two media is reversed. In the rst approximation, such a cell `deilects .the light the same amount in opposite direction compared with the rst cell. If the original cell is coupled 4in series with the cell so turned, so that the light passes rst one cell, then the other, a cell combination is obtained which has the double sensitivityandoptical,resolvingpower. In other words, on series coupling ofltwo'cells, one can retain sensitivity and optical resolution unalteredv if one'reduces the data of the separate cells to the half. The mathematical aua-lysis shows' that' one can double the range of linear responseeven in` this way.

Insteadof using two `separate cells according to Fig. l, one can construct a composite cell according to Fig. 3, whichhas the samelopticaliaction; Such cells are already 'described in theI literature, but` nobody has earlier noticed their greaterrange'ofv lineari response compared to that ofy the cell in-Fig. l.

The third circumstance thatl contributes to a consider- -able increase ofthe linear range-of certain composite `cells' is connected with the fact' that the angular dellection can be expressed by a power series in ofwhich 'Equation 1 is thefirst approximation. The coecients A, B, etc. are functions of the sensitivity S, oftheentrance angle a and'of'the refractivity n. A turning of the cell in Fig'. 1 round different axes does not alter the main term Sn, but' it does alter the coeiicients A, B,-etc; By suitable combinations-of separate cells, consisting Yin `parallel coupling, series coupling or both, the quadratic term in Equation '3"can be brought to disappear, ywhich results in a considerable increase -of the linear range,-

TheA accurater mathematical analysis,- lwhich will soon be published in The--Iournal-ot' the Optical Society of America, shows-that the type of cell depicted in Fig. 2 and that shown in Fig. 4 possess very large ranges of linear response. For the first cell, we have the equation:

from which the following range of linearity can be derived:

for S=1/2 and R=1/2 105. (These data for the included separate cells give the sensitivity of 1 and the resolving power of for the composite cell.)

For the cell according to Fig. 4, the equation is valid:

for an entrance angle-T0. From this equationV the following range of linearity is derived:

Y KVK350.0519 1 (7) forS=1I and R=1A -105 (which gives a sensitivity of 1 vand a resolving power of 105 for'the composite cell).

To sum up,it can thus be said .thatthese cells possess a 'linearity about 10 times better than that of the simple,

most commonly used .cell according Fig. l.

'In Fig. 5 the sample has the yrefractive index n(1-l-) ,andV the referenceV medium in each of the three parallel cells has `the index n. The angles between the entrance and exit walls and the inner walls are diierent in the three cells'viz V1, V2 and Va respectively.

` In Fig. 6 the three parallel cells contain a sample me diumn having the refractive index n(1i-). The three cells contain dilerentreference media having the refrac- .tive indices 111,112 and n. The spaces for the sample menot equal;

If we now also consider the fact that these linearity ranges, about 0.05 wide, extend in both directions, from the refractivity of the reference medium, we arrive at the conclusion that only one reference medium for every 1A() unit in refractivityl is required for using the simple Equation 1. Staying at R=104, the range of linear response becomes 2.16 timesr greater. At a sensitivity of unity, only two reference media of the refractivities 1.4 and 1.6 are needed to make thewhole range between 1.3 and 1.7 linear.

When the refractive index of flowing solutions is to be measured or recorded, it may nevertheless be inconvenient to change reference media during a proceeding recording. It can therefore be advantageous Vto construct multicells with several storeys.V Each storey inV such a doubly compound cell should then have the same appearance in a horizontal section, but Vthe dilterent storeys differ fromeach other ,by having dilerent reference media. The compartments for the reference media are thus insulated from each other, while those for the flowing solution are interconnected,V so that the 'solutioncan pass through them in series. Y

The extension of thelinearity range is in the main inversely proportional to the sensitivity of the composite cell. At certain measurements within narrow refractivity intervals, one can thus advantageously use cells of a high sensitivity, while at measurements within larger intervals the sensitivity must be reduced in order to get a linear dependence. Consequently it can also be advantageous to construct cells with several storeys in which every storey is characterized by different S-values, but contains the same reference medium. r

The reference medium need not necessarily be a liquid but can also be a rigid body within those refractivity intervals where optically, mechanically and chemically satisfactory material is available. Such cells, e. g. with glass as a reference medium, are cheaper to make than cells with exclusively hollow prisms.

I claim:

1. Refractometric cell for measurement of the dierence in refractivity between two media, said cell having mutually parallel entrance and exit walls to be oriented perpendicularly to the collimator axis in a refractometer, said cell containing at least two compartments for the two media to be compared, and carrying at least one pair of mutually parallel, oblique internal Walls separating the media, the distance between the two members of each pair being such that one portion of the collimated Vbeam of light passes only one member, while another portion of the collimated beam passes only the other member, the subsequent pairs of mutually parallel internal walls all making the same angle with the outer walls, but of alternating positive and negative signs in the direction of the 'collimator axis.

2. Refractometric cell as claimed in clainrl, containing only one pair of mutually parallel, oblique internal walls, said internal Walls and the entrance and exit walls forming a body having wa rhomboidal cross-section.

3,l VRefractometric cell as claimed in claim l,A containing two pairs of mutually parallel,-oblique inner partition walls, said partition walls and the entrance and exit Walls forming a body having the cross-section of two rhomboids having one side in common and parallel with the entrance and exit walls, said two rhomboids being mutual mirror images with respect to said common side.

4.'Composite refractometric cell unit comprising at least two cells of the kind described irl-claim 1, with such a'mutual orientation that all entrance and exit walls are mutually parallel and that every portion of a col- Alirnated beam of light perpendicular to said walls passes only one component cell.

5. Composite cell unit as claimed in claim 4, in which at least one of the spacesbetween external and internal References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,264,374 DeFlorez Apr. 30, 1918 2,445,044 Stamm et al July 13, 1948 2,612,814 Glasser Oct. 7, 1952 2,630,042 Shelter et al Mar. 3, 1953 2,686,454 Ruska Aug. 17, 1954 

